Confession or coercion in China?
Colleagues of Swedish activist say his televised comments appear to be ‘ forced.’
BEIJING — Chinese state television broadcast a “confession” by a detained Swedish human rights worker, punctuating a state media offensive accusing him of “endangering national security” by funding grass- roots lawyers and writing reports about the country’s human rights record.
Peter Dahlin, a 35- yearold Swedish citizen, appeared Tuesday night on the state broadcaster CCTV to apologize for f inancially backing Chinese nationals who went on to commit “very serious crimes.” Colleagues and outside observers said his comments appeared scripted and were probably made under duress.
Dahlin said in the broadcast that his organization, the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, gave about $ 500 a month to Chinese “citizen lawyers” who provide legal assistance to victims of government abuse — forced demolitions, police beatings, extralegal abduc- tions. He said the group also gave licensed lawyers about $ 3,000 to take on “difficult cases.”
“I violated Chinese law through my activities here, I’ve caused harm to the Chinese government, I’ve hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,” Dahlin said, echoing rhetoric that the ruling Communist Party often levels against its critics. “I apologize sincerely for this and I regret that this ever happened.”
He spoke in slow, deliberate English against a nondescript background and beneath low- key lights.
Dahlin vanished along with his girlfriend en route to the Beijing airport late Jan. 3 or early Jan. 4, according to a statement by his organization. China’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed that he was detained on suspicion of endangering state security.
His whereabouts remain unknown, and his girlfriend, a Chinese national, remains missing.
The Chinese Urgent Action Working Group called Dahlin’s confession “forced” and rejected the accusations as “baseless.”
Experts say Dahlin appears to have been swept up in a major crackdown on dissent by Communist authorities under President Xi Jinping. Last week, authorities charged seven human rights lawyers and their associates with a count of “subversion of state power,” which carries a potential sentence of life in prison. All have been held incommunicado for more than half a year.
“These types of pretrial forced confessions have really become a staple of criminal justice under Xi Jinping,” said William Nee, a Hong Kong- based spokesman for Amnesty International.